Divine Mercy Province, Brazil

The Divine Mercy Province is fast becoming one of the most active among the Congregation's five provinces. The Marians began their missionary work in Brazil in the early 1960s after responding to appeals from Pope John XXIII during the Second Vatican Council, who asked them to serve as missionaries in South American countries badly in need of priests. Five Marians opened a mission in northern Brazil in 1964. Another group arrived five years later and began working with the poor on the outskirts of Curitiba in the south. Officially established as a Province in 1998, there are now more than 80 Marian priests, brothers, and seminarians in Brazil.

Today, there are about 60 Marian priests, brothers and seminarians in Brazil. They serve in parishes and their associated missions (chapels), assisting Catholic lay movements, as well as tribes of Indians. In some parishes, they have developed programs working with the poorest of the poor. The Marians also operate a Divine Mercy apostolate which has its center at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Curitiba. They also spiritually assist groups of nuns. Since 1977, working with native vocations, the young Province has improved its formation program.

Since 2015, Portugal is a vicariate under the Brazilian Province of Divine Mercy.